In a Sustainable Manner | Heritage Foods USA | Patrick Martins
June 29th, 2009 by craigmc
You could call Patrick Martins a mover and a shaker and you would be right.
After working in Italy to help launch Slow Food USA, he moved back to helm
its national office. Mr. Martins was everywhere — founding the magazine for
Slow Food, writing the Slow Food Guide to New York Restaurants, Markets
and Bars, and still finds time to be the series’ editor for both Chicago and
Northern California Slow Food Guides. Patrick currently sits on the advisory
board for Slow Food USA with the title of Founder.
Taking slow food a step further, Patrick founded Heritage Foods USA with his
business partner, Todd Wickstrom. Their goal is to help farmers market their
artisan foods and to provide an alternative to industrial agriculture.
They are doing a great job.
The Heritage Turkey Project, which helped double the population of heritage
turkeys in the United States and upgraded the Bourbon Red turkey from “rare”
to “watch” status on conservation lists, was Heritage Foods USA’s first foray
into saving American food traditions.
In 2004 it became an independent company (from Slow Food) dedicated to
saving not only turkeys but also Native American foods, pigs, sheep, bison,
cows, reef-net salmon, goats and all breeds of food livestock.
And, if that wasn’t enough, Patrick started the Heritage Radio Network.
The studio is in a recycled shipping container in Bushwick, Brooklyn behind
Roberta’s. (this restaurant is quickly moving to the head of the “best pizza”
line — you have to check them out) On the radio one can hear people like
Zak Pelaccio, (Fatty Crab) and Anne Saxelby (Saxelby Cheesemongers)
talk about their current food obsessions.
Patrick is all about fighting the good fight, and it looks like he’s winning.
Posted in Raising Animals, People, Purveyors |
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